Shoppers at Schnucks grocery stores are being encouraged to pay with cash or checks until a credit card fraud problem is resolved. Investigators have received several complaints about credit card fraud linked to stores operated by the grocery chain based in Maryland Heights, a St. Louis suburb. Schnuck Markets Inc. said last week that it has hired an outside forensics company to investigate. Manager Dennis Marchi says none of the complaints have come from anyone who's shopped at the Cape Girardeau Schnucks. But Montgomery Bank in Cape Girardeau has alerted at least one cardholder in Cape Girardeau of a security breach, possibly involving a Schnucks store. Maryland Heights detective Sean Fanning cites at least 30 reports about unauthorized credit card charges, mostly from people who recently shopped at Schnucks. In some cases, transactions reached the thousands of dollars. The Missouri Attorney General's office is also reviewing complaints from consumers.

***UPDATE***

David Jones of Montgomery Bank contacted KZIM-KSIM Friday 3/29/13 at 10:00 am to clarify that they have not identified Schnuck's as the confirmed source of the credit card security breach, nor has their VISA processing center. Jones says any employee identifying Schnuck's as the source has done so in error.